The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson and Pictures by Beth Krommes

Being a Hawkeye, I naturally love black and gold but never before have I seen these colors make beautiful art like that found in The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson.  This book has a static plot that involves zooming into, and then out of, a house until we are eventually in a book.  This is all done using very few words and the last noun on the page is used as the first noun on the second page.  For example, “Here is the key to the house.  In the house burns a light.”  The pictures are very interesting and detailed and use black and gold exclusively.  I like this combination because it highlights certain things that "glow."  The illustrator, Beth Krommes, uses different patterns of lines to show texture and depth.   In my opinion, the illustrations are what makes the book.  Each page of the book only had about six words on it that were very simple to read.  Despite this simplicity, the book had a poetic rhythm to it that I thoroughly enjoyed. 
            Because the words are quite simple, I would only use this book with 1rst grade and under.  I think kids older than this might feel insulted by the easy vocabulary used.  I think younger children would have fun identifying the pattern in the book and speculating about what comes next.  I would have students write their own pattern book using a similar format.    All they would have to do is come up with one initial sentence and build off of that to make a story.  For instance, “I love hugs from my mom.  My mom goes for walks.  On these walks she picks up leave.”  I think this is a good activity for children because it shows them that creating a story doesn’t have to be overwhelming.  Rather, it starts with a single sentence. 
Year Published: 2008          Awards: Caldecott Award